Qatar’s Sealine Cross Country Rally turned out to be a gruelling four-day battle: the demanding terrain that featured not only desert sand but also hard sections covered by rocks. And in addition, there was the extremely difficult navigation that exasperated numerous competitors. But the Monster Energy X-raid Team, its pairing Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL) / Andreas Schulz (GER) and the MINI ALL4 Racing successfully met all the challenges to finish runner-up behind the buggy of Jean-Louis Schlesser.
Having finished fifth in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Holowczyc travelled to Qatar with a lot of pleasant anticipation. In his white MINI ALL4 Racing, he made a good start into the third FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup round and finished second right away. In the second special stage he encountered two punctures but succeeded in defending his second position in the overall standings, nevertheless. On the following day, the problems were forgotten and he struck back by winning the third special stage. In the fourth and final special stage, the Monster Energy X-Raid Team driver once again set the second-fastest time to also secure the second place in the overall ranking.
“We once again succeeded in scoring World Cup points and doing so represented by No 1 priority, here in Qatar,” said Krzysztof Holowcycz. “The MINI ALL4 Racing ran perfectly and the collaboration with Andy also works better and better. He did a really great job, today. We were the first to start into today’s special stage and nonetheless, we completed it without any navigation mistakes. With the three rallies jointly raced, we have evolved into a really good team.“
Result stage 4:
1st J.-L. Schlesser (FRA)/K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Buggy - 2h 49m 15s
2nd K. Holowczyc (POL) /A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing - 2h 54m 47s
3rd P. Van Merksteijn (NDL)/E. Chevallier (BEL) Ford – 2h 57m 32s ...
Overall result Sealine Cross Country Rally:
1st J.-L. Schlesser (FRA)/K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Buggy - 16h 11m 33s
2nd K. Holowczyc (POL) /A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing - 16h 42m 51s
3rd N. Coffaro (VEN)/D. Meneses (VEN) Toyota – 17h 30m 45s
